The Opera organizes its grand event of integrated arts entitled Faust Ball on 14 February 2015. Similar to the first ball in 2014 entitled Silver Rose Ball, its main mission is a charitable cause: the guests contribute to the purchase of an ambulance for the Hungarian National Emergency Ambulance Service. Special guest of the ball is international superstar soprano Angela Gheorghiu.

At the end of January, between two regular concerts, the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra gives another one in memory of the victims of the holocaust. The winter concert series feature renowned conductors as well as young, award-winning soloists.

As the first premiere in 2015, the Hungarian State Opera produces The Rake’s Progress by Igor Stravinsky. So far it has only been featured in the repertoire of the Opera only once – it was put on stage 35 years ago. In the production by director Ferenc Anger two international guest artists make their Hungarian debut on 18 January 2015.

It has been exactly 130 years since the Budapest Opera opened its gates on 27 September, 1884. The Hungarian State Opera commemorates the anniversary of the opening with crowds in period costumes, an extraordinary gala concert, the premier of a film, and the publication of a historical book.

Following last year’s MozartLateNight, this is the turn of two French composers to shake things up as their one-act operas take us to the exotic world of the Orient. Bizet’s Djamileh is a steamy tale, set on the banks of the Nile, about a slave woman who falls in love with her captor, while Saint-Saëns’s La Princesse Jaune (The Yellow Princess) is one about a Dutchman’s delirious vision of a Japanese phantasm. Strictly for over 18s only!

Farnace

Events

In accordance with a new tradition which is very visibly taking root, we will also be closing the 2015 season with a Baroque
opera premiere. In the footsteps of Händel, Rameau and Gluck will follow a truly Italian composer: Vivaldi! The operas of the
“Red Priest” (which number close to 50) were practically unknown until the last quarter of the 20th century. Since the start of
the millennium, however, people can’t seem to get enough, as more and more recordings and productions are made of his
operas. This premiere is a curiosity for two reasons: first, this is the piece’s Hungarian premiere, and second, because this is
the first occasion a Vivaldi opera will be appearing on the Budapest Opera playbill.

Farnace was one of its composer’s favourite operas: he showed it in a number of cities, and also revised the score on all six
occasions. The plot revolves around the King of Pontus, recently defeated by the Romans, whose mother-in-law despises
him and conspires against him. Intrigue, politics, a death sentence, love, manipulation, and hatred abound as the characters
find themselves in the most extreme of situations and traverse an enormously wide range of emotions.

Ferenc Anger is without a doubt a great admirer of Baroque opera, and especially of the enchanting music of Vivaldi. It is an
old dream of his come true to bring the composer to the Budapest stage at last, and under his direction to boot.